Omamori Himari is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Milan Matra. The story follows Yuto Amakawa, an orphaned boy who, on the day of his sixteenth birthday, meets Himari, a sword-wielding girl who turns out to be a cat spirit. He soon discovers that his family is one of the twelve Demon Slayer families that had slain demons for hundreds of years, and that Himari has sworn an ancient oath to protect him from the demons that are out to kill him until his powers fully awaken. Throughout the series, Yuto encounters other girls who later take a romantic liking to him, most of them ayakashi: Shizuku, a mizuchi in the form of a small child, Lizlet, a tsukumogami in the form of a busty tea-serving maid, and Kuesu, the heiress of the Jinguji Family of Demon Slayers and Yuto's fiancée.
Omamori Himari began monthly serialization in the July 2006 issue of Monthly Dragon Age (released on June 9, 2006[1]), and ran until the October 2013 issue (released September 9, 2013), spanning a total of seventy-five chapters. Twelve bound volumes were released by Fujimi Shobo from February 1, 2007, to November 9, 2013.[2][3] The first five volumes were published under Kadokawa Shoten's "Dragon Jr." imprint, while the remaining volumes were published under Fujimi Shobo's "Dragon Comics Age" imprint. An official guidebook to the series (sold as Volume 0) was also released by Kadokawa Shoten on October 24, 2009.[4] The manga was also serialized in Fujimi Shobo's paid online magazine, Age Premium, starting from the inaugural September 2011 issue (released on August 3, 2011) to the November 2013 issue.[5]
A four-panel spinoff called Omamori Himari: Himari's Panties (おまもりひまり 緋鞠のおぱんちゅ, Omamori Himari: Himari no Opanchu), illustrated by Nikubanare, began serialization in the November 2009 issue of Monthly Dragon Age and ended in the November 2010 issue.[6] A compilation called Omamori Himari 1/4: Himari's 4-Koma Anthology (おまもりひまり1/4 緋鞠の4こまあんそろじぃ) was released on April 9, 2010.[7] A bonus two-part side story, called Omamori Himari: Book of the Gaiden (おまもりひまり 外伝の書, Omamori Himari: Gaiden no Sho), also illustrated by Nikubanare, was released by Kadokawa Shoten on September 9, 2011. The stories were serialized in the May 2011 and June 2011 issues of Monthly Dragon Age.[8]
Omamori Himari is licensed in North America by Yen Press, and released all thirteen volumes (twelve plus Volume 0) from October 26, 2010, to July 22, 2014.[9] The manga is also licensed in Taiwan by one of Kadokawa Shoten's subsidiary companies, Kadokawa Media,[10] and in Germany by Panini Comics under the title of Talisman Himari.[11] A 12-episode anime adaptation created by animation studio Zexcs ran between January and March 2010 on TV Saitama, Chiba TV, and other networks.[12]
Individual chapters of the series are called Menageries (匹目, Hikime), and each chapter uses either the kanji, katakana, or hiragana for "cat" (猫, ネコ, ねこ, neko) within its title.
Volume 5 contains a bonus one-shot manga called Jōkyō Kaishi! (Commence Operation!), one of Matra's earlier works based on the visual novel of the same name by Kogado Studio and the first of his works to be featured in a major manga magazine. It was serialized in the February 2006 issue of Monthly Dragon Age.
Menagerie β: "When the Black Witch Was Dyed Silver" (Kurohachi (黒八))
Volume 0 is a bonus volume in the manga that acts as the official guidebook to the series. Among the bonus comics are two that take place prior to the series' start: one that involves Himari and Kaya meeting Kasuri Kagamimori and her sister Hisuzu, the Demon Slayers of the Kagamimori Family, and another that chronicles Kuesu's time in England and how she gained her silvery-white hair.
6
December 19, 2009 (w/DVD ed.)[23] January 7, 2010 (regular ed.)[24]
An artbook featuring art from the author's previous works. The artbook includes an extra chapter of Omamori Himari that serves as the series' epilogue. The extra chapter was later included in the English release of Volume 12.